Hanger for articles having hooked or looped handles



Dec. 21, 1965 R. E. MALMQUIST 3,224,721

HANGER FOR ARTICLES HAVING HOOKED OR LOOPED HANDLES Filed Sept. 2, 1964 IE!!! V H66 INVENTOR ROBERT E. MALMQUIST ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,224,721 HANGER FGR ARTICLES HAVHNG HGGKED 0R LQOPTED HANDLES Robert E. Malmquist, Downers Grove, BL, assignor of one-half to George C. Hotlina, La Grange, Ill. Fitted Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 393,873 7 (Jlaims. (Cl. 248-339) This invention relates in general to a hanger for articles having hooked or looped handles, and more particularly to a hanger for suspending such articles from a supporting surface, and still more particularly to a hanger particularly useful for supporting drinking cups.

The present invention is primarily concerned with the mounting of utensils, such as drinking cups, on a supporting surface, wherein normal vibration to the supporting surface will not dislodge the utensils from the surface. The invention includes a hook member having means for attaching it to a supporting surface such as the underside of a generally horizontally extending shelf, and a block or piece of resilient material arranged about the hook member, and displaceable or movable to permit the hook member to receive the looped handle of an article thereon but of such a nature as to impositively hold the handle of the hook member. The present invention is particularly useful to support drinking cups from a shelf in a movable vehicle such as a house trailer or boat. In such a movable vehicle cups suspended from ordinary hooks would nearly always be displaced or dislodged from the hook member during movement of the vehicle due to vibration, and such is undesirable. The present invention overcomes this difficulty by holding the cups on the hooks, yet it is of such a nature as to permit quick and easy mounting or removal of the cups from the hook member.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger for supporting articles having hooked or looped handles, such as cups and the like.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of a hanger for supporting articles having hooked or looped handles and for holding them in place even though subjected to vibration.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of a hanger for supporting drinking cups or the like including a hook member that is substantially surrounded by resilient material which functions to hold the looped handle of an article on the hook member after it has been inserted in place.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hanger for supporting articles having looped handles, such as cups or the like, and which includes a hook member in combination with a block of lightweight, highly resilient material, such as foam plastic or rubber which functions to hold the cup on the hook member but also permits it to be easily removed by a person.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheet of drawing, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a hook member employed with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the hanger constructed in accordance with the invention and employing the hook member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 taken substantially along line 3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the embodiment of FIG. 2 substantially along line 44 thereof;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the embodiment 3,224,7Zl Patented Dec. 21, 1955 of the invention as shown in FIG. 2, and showing it mounted on a support member and having a cup carried thereby;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the showing of FIG. 5 and taken substantially along line 6-6 thereof; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing a modification of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 includes generally a hook member 10 and a block of resilient material 11 adapted to be mounted to the under supporting surface 12 of a supporting member 13 for suspending from the supporting member an article or drinking cup 14.

The hook member 10 herein illustrated includes an upstanding shank portion 15, a parti-circular portion 16 extending from the downward end of the upstanding portion and terminating at 17 to define an opening 18 through which the looped handle of a cup may be inserted, such as the looped handle 19 of the cup 14, and a screwthreaded portion 20 at the upper end of the upstanding shank 15 for attaching the hook member to a supporting member such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A radial flange 21 is secured between the upstanding shank 15 and the threaded portion 20. It should be appreciated that the hook member 10 may take any desirable shape, and that the embodiment shown herein is merely for illustrating the invention. For example, the screw-threaded portion 20 may have substituted therefor a nail, a glued plate, a magnet, or any other type of fastener.

The block of resilient material 11 is rectangularly shaped herein but may be of any desired shape. This material is preferably light-weight and highly resilient. For example, the material may be of foam rubber or foam plastic. More particularly, if of foam plastic, it may be foam polyurethane which is a substance of light weight and highly flexible. However, once flexed, it will attempt to come back to its original shape. As shown in FIG. 3, a slit 22 may be formed in the block of resilient material 11 so that when the hook member 10 is assembled with the material, the parti-circular portion 16 extends primarily into the area of the material that is slit and particularly the portion 16 is arranged substantially in the center of the slit and in alignment therewith. It is preferable that the block of material 11 is suitably secured to the hook member 10 so that relative movement therebetween or disassembly is precluded. While any method of accomplishing this end may be employed, for purposes of illustration, a layer of glue or suitable adhesive 23 may be provided between the radial flange 21 and the upper side of the block of material 11 for connecting the hook member to the material. The upstanding shank portion 15 of the hook member extends through the upper end of the block of material as shown particularly in FIG. 6, while as heretofore already explained, the parti-circular portion 16 is arranged in the slit 22 so that access to the opening 18 of the hook member may be obtained. It should be appreciated that the slit 22 need not go through the entire lower part of the resilient material but need only be arranged so that a looped handle of an article may be inserted over the terminal end 1'7 of the hook member.

In operation, for mounting a cup or like article to the hanger, it is only necessary to force the looped handle 1w upward through the slit 22 and over the terminal end 17 and into the opening 18 to the position shown in FIG. 6. At that point, the resilient material, which is highly elastic, forms about the hook member and the handle and closes the opening 18 to prevent removal of the cup 14 from the hook member unless desired by the user. Thus normal vibration of the supporting member 13 would not permit the cup 14 to be dislodged from the hook member 10, and the present invention would thereby provide a very positive and efiicient hanger for cups or the like in moving vehicles.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 7 which principally differs from the embodiments of FIGS. 2-6 in the arrangement of the hook member 10 with respect to a block of resilient material. The hook member 10 employed in this embodiment is like the one in FIG. 1, although as previously mentioned, it may take any desirable shape.

The block of resilient material employed with this embodiment is generally designated by the numeral 24, and includes a central bore 25 that extends from the bottom surface 24a and just short of the upper surface 24b. A second bore 26 extends from the upper end of the bore 25 and out through the upper surface 24b of the block of resilient material. The bore 25 is preferably sized to snugly receive therein the radial flange 21 of the hook member 10 and which abuts against the shoulder defined by the junction of the bores 25 and 26. If desired, a layer of glue 27 may be provided between the shoulder and the flange 21 to more firmly secure the hook member 10 to the block of resilient material 24. In this embodiment, the screw-threaded portion 20 extends upwardly through the second bore 26 and for purposes of attaching the hanger to the support member 13. It is also preferable that the block of resilient material 24 be secured to the support member 13, and this can be accomplished by means of a layer of glue 28. The surface 24b of the resilient material 24 may be provided with a dry adhesive that is activated upon being moistened for attachment of the resilient material to the underside 12 of the support member 13. Any other type of glue or adhesive may be employed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, it is noted that the terminal end 17 of the hook portion 16 extends up into the block of resilient material 24 a distance beyond the lower surface 24a, while the major portion of the hook portion 16 extends through the bore 25 and slightly below the lower surface 24a. The operation of this embodiment is like the operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 2-6 in that the looped handle 19 of a cup 14 may be employed to depress the resilient material about the end 17 of the hook portion 16 to enable the handle 19 to be swung into position on the hook portion 16 as shown in FIG. 7, whereupon the resilient material of the block 24 springs back over the end 17 of the hook portion 16 and blocks removal of the cup from the hanger. This embodiment illustrates that the hook member may be combined with the block of resilient material in any desired manner.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this application is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A hanger for articles having looped handles and adapted to be attached to a supporting surface comprising, a hook member having means for attaching same to a supporting surface, and a block of resilient material about said hook member and openable to permit a looped handle of an article to be received on the hook member, whereby said block of resilient material holds the article on the hook member.

2. A hanger for suspending an article having a looped handle from a supporting surface comprising, a hook member, means on one end of said hook member for attaching same to the supporting surface, and a block of lightweight highly resilient and elastic material surrounding the hook member and being separable to permit a looped handle of an article to be received on the hook member, whereby said material holds the article on the hook member and against removal therefrom due to any vibration of the supporting surface.

3. A hanger for suspending an article having a looped handle from a supporting surface comprising, a hook member, means on one end of said hook member for attaching same to the supporting surface, a block of lightweight highly resilient and elastic material surrounding the hook member and being separable to permit a looped handle of an article to be received on the hook member, and means for securing the material to the hook member, whereby said material holds the article on the hook member-and against removal therefrom due to any vibration of the supporting surface.

4. A hanger according to claim 3, wherein said material is foam plastic.

5. A hanger according to claim 3, wherein said material is foam rubber.

6. A hanger for suspending an article having a looped handle from a supporting member, said hanger comprising, a hook member, means on one end of the hook member for attaching same to the supporting member, a block of elastic material attached to said hook member and in substantial surrounding relation thereto, a. slit in said material permitting access to the hook member and the placement of a looped handle of an article thereon, whereby the material forms about the hook member and handle and holds the handle in position on the hook member and against displacement due to vibration of the support member.

7. A hanger for suspending an article having a looped handle from a supporting member, said hanger comprising, a hook member, means on one end of the hook member for attaching same to the supporting member, a block of elastic material attached to said hook member and in substantial surrounding relation thereto, and a hook portion on said hook member extending through said block of resilient material and having its free end embedded in the material, whereby depressing of the resilient material allows positioning the looped handle of a container over the end of the hook portion and thereafter release of the material blocks displacement of the handle from the hook portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,774,481 12/1956 Sievers et al. 211-89 2,793,762 5/1957 Broussard 2l1-113 2,926,790 3/1960 Dieck 21169 2,956,687 10/1960 Robichaud 211-74 3,171,544 3/1965 Unsworth 21189 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HANGER FOR ARTICLES HAVING LOOPED HANDLES AND ADAPTED TO BE ATTACHED TO A SUPPORTING SURFACE COMPRISING, A HOOK MEMBER HAVING MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAME TO A SUPPORTING SURFACE, AND A BLOCK OF RESILIENT MATERIAL ABOUT SAID HOOK MEMBER AND OPENABLE TO PERMIT A LOOPED HANDLE OF AN ARTICLE TO BE RECEIVED ON THE HOOK MEMBER, 